Liberals to retool immigrant support program that few used
Just 13 clients were served in one year
OTTAWA • The federal government is planning to overhaul an immigration program designed to help newcomers find work and adjust to life in Canada which, despite having its budget nearly tripled in 2015, is being used by fewer than 10 per cent of immigrants.
The changes come after an audit earlier this year pointed to problems with the pre-arrival services program, including ineffective promotion and low uptake, since the government expanded funding to 27 service providers in 2015, up from just three. That number has since dropped to 23.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is now planning to further scale back the number of organizations that offer prearrival services, which have served as few as 13 clients in a single year, at a cost per client of up to nearly $28,000.
“Currently, there are too many service providers with very small client numbers and overlapping services, as the program grew rapidly from 3 to 27 providers in 2015,” reads an April 2018 memo to Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen, obtained through access-toinformation. “The department anticipates funding a smaller number of providers and also expects quality proposals from new players.”
The program’s budget grew with the number of service providers, from $9 million in 2014-15 to $32 million in 2016-17. However, the audit found that roughly the same number of clients were served in those two years — about 19,400 — because of the time it took to get new service providers up and running.
That number grew to just over 32,000 clients in 2017-18 and, according to the internal memo, the new budget for the program will be $25 million. “The uptake is increasing as awareness of the services is increasing,” Mathieu Genest, Hussen’s spokesperson, said in an email.
Pre-arrival services are intended to help economic immigrants and refugees prepare for life in Canada, and can include help with resumes, connections with employers, and mentoring to help newcomers integrate into new communities.
The audit found that the majority of immigrants who used the services found them helpful.
“We think it makes a huge difference in people’s lives,” said Irene Vaksman, director of newcomer services with JVS Toronto, one of the service providers.
The federal government has funded the services since 1998, initially only for refugees. The program has grown gradually since then, but was expanded dramatically in 2015 under the former Harper government, to provide more tailored employment services. Most of the services are offered online, though some organizations have physical locations in top source countries, including India, China and the Philippines.
The result of the expansion is a mix of service providers, some of which provide general services to all newcomers, with others targeting niche groups. One organization, for instance, targets only professionals moving to Calgary, and served 13 clients in 2016-17 with $173,000 in federal funding, according to the internal memo. That number had increased to 40 in the first part of 2017-18.
Two organizations cater to immigrants moving to British Columbia — one to construction workers and another to mechanics, carpenters and power engineers. Both received more than $1 million in 2016-17 and served 135 and 76 clients, respectively.
The government also funded four organizations targeting francophone newcomers, only one of which served more than 100 clients between April 2017 and January 2018.
According to the audit, just 7.3 per cent of eligible newcomers used pre-arrival services between April 2015 and August 2017, with the cost per client for each service provider ranging from $48 to nearly $28,000.
The biggest problem seems to be that many immigrants don’t know the services are available. The audit found that 71 per cent of those surveyed hadn’t heard of pre-arrival services, and most said they would have used them if they’d known.
The Immigration department has a website linking to all pre-arrival service providers, but the report found the department only started automatically sending information about the services to newcomers in October 2017. It found that promotional efforts have “largely been ineffective.”
“I think people just don’t know these programs exist,” Vaksman said. “We need to think about how to better advertise it.”
Another issue appears to be overlap between service providers, and a lack of coordination between them. The audit found many newcomers were confused about which services they should access.
Queenie Choo, CEO of B.C.-based S.U.C.C.E.S.S., one of the older service providers, said it can be confusing for clients when some organizations are providing general services and others are very specialized. She suggested the government needs to review the number of providers. “Certainly there is an opportunity to streamline what is regular and what is needed.”
Aside from funding fewer providers, the government is now planning to reduce overlap by having just two to four organizations provide core services, and then refer clients out to more specialized providers. Only one organization will offer on-the-ground services in each source country.
Hussen also announced last week that La Cité, the largest French-language college in Ontario, will be the first point of contact for francophone newcomers, with four regional partners providing more tailored services. The new model will “ensure value for money,” according to the internal memo.
“It’s true that the participation is weak,” said Emmanuel Nahimana, project manager with the Acadian Federation of Nova Scotia, which delivers pre-arrival services to francophone immigrants to the Atlantic provinces and will be one of La Cité’s four regional partners.
Nahimana said many immigrants don’t know they can access pre-arrival services in French, and he’s hopeful the program overhaul will help.
The government launched a new call for proposals earlier this year, but has yet to finalize all the new agreements. The existing agreements have been extended until the end of the year.
WE THINK IT MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN PEOPLE’S LIVES.